Cindy Kelly: 3 Tips to Keep you Focused and Productive Throughout the Holiday Season

November and December can be two of the toughest months to stay focused at work. With the constant reminders that holiday season in almost here as well as the days off for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it can be difficult to keep everything together both personally and professionally.

Thanksgiving is usually where productivity starts to suffer especially since it falls on a Thursday. Depending on your office, you may be off the day before Thanksgiving or the day after. Sometimes having several days off during the week just adds to the workload and things start to pile up.  How can you keep yourself focused during the holidays?

Here are 3 tips to help keep you focused and productive throughout the holiday season:

1. Manage your time: Writing a task list is an excellent start but sticking to that schedule can be a true challenge. Write out a daily task list and plan your day. Then force yourself to stay on schedule! It will make you more productive and more likely to avoid getting into a holiday slump.

2. Don't mix personal time with business time:  Everyone’s task list seems to grow during the holidays and it can be tempting to address personal issues in the office.  If you need to plan a holiday get together, stick to your lunch and breaks to do so. Keep your business tasks and personal tasks separate. This is the number one key to staying productive in the office all year around.

3. Schedule time off: As a busy professional you may find it difficult to take time off in general and the holidays can make things more stressful. If you have so much to do that you can’t stay focused on work, why be there? Take some personal time or vacation time and use it to focus on your needs outside of work. That is what this time is for. You’ll return back to the office focused and better than ever.

Hopefully these tips will help you maintain productivity during the busy holiday season. So stop reading this and get back to work!